09 June 2006

Terrible news isn't bountiful this week, as baseball is baseball (read: on steroids, HGH, and whatever else they can get their hands on), basketball finals are here (yawn), and the NHL final (I hear a lot of you yawning) is over before it really started now with Roloson out.

So that in and of itself would constitute good news. But that's not the purpose of this weekly.

The Diamond Dogs will play their best-of-3 Super Regional against South Carolina this weekend, the winner going to Omaha for the College World Series playoffs. If you're hoping for tickets, good luck. It's Standing Room Only for Kudzu Hill and the left field foul side fence ($6/ticket). Get there early as they go on sale 2 hours before the game, but you know how UGA kids camp out for stuff. You'll need to be in line at like 3 am for just a 50-50 chance of getting any. Then again, it is summer. And remember, that means it's H_O_T. Or you can watch it on ESPN2 or ESPN, while you're in between breaks from watching...

WORLD CUP action started today, with hosts Germany trouncing the weak Costa Rica team 4:2. If you missed the first 16 minutes, you probably saw a normal soccer game as, after the 3-goals-in-16-minutes flurry of action, Germany settled in and took control of the game. All games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC depending on the day and match importance. Most games will be on ESPN2. The most exciting game of the day (just forego the obvious quip, you non-soccer fans) will be on ESPN Classic later that evening. USA had a terrible group drawing with formidable Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as nothing-to-sneeze-at Ghana being the fourth. The first US game is Monday, 11 AM vs. CR. Good luck to our team in Germany. If you don't watch soccer, you should go to a local pub with the games on and watch. It will change your enjoyment. And you don't even have to drink. (Btw, several Athens places are showing them, two notables being Achim's and Little Italy's.)

Kudos to Clijsters for sticking to her guns, maintaining that she will retire in 2007 due to residual effects of injuries. Remember, Clijsters is #2 in the world. It's not that she's gotten old (at 22!!!) or has fallen off as a player. "My main decision is just that I want to still be able to be healthy when I'm older," Clijsters is quoted as saying. We're hearing this more and more in pro sports. I want to be healthy when I get older. I've mentioned this before: it's called perspective. My health later, or play a GAME now to get even more money but the cost is to be on painkillers the rest of my life. Game now, future health. Tough choice, granted. But good for those athletes who make a choice and stick to it. And the NFL is starting to kind of see it (see: Bettis as one example). I'm not taking a side on the issue. If she said she's playing until she's 50, fine. Do it. Good for her. You play until you are ready retire or when "it's time." There's a big difference between "quitting" and retiring to save one's future health, especially if you're gathering a long list of injury in a short time. It's good to see a player stand by her convictions. It'll be interesting, though, to see if she "unretires" in 5-10 years...

I think that's it for this week. Feel free to post more Good News sports in the comments section.

2 Comments:

A worker at the brand spanking new Little Italy in Commerce tells me they will have World Cup action when they get their TVs.

The US is in a tough backet but it could be worse. Italy and the Czechs are each facing some rather serious injuries. The US or Ghana might be able to grab the early advantage and make it out of there alive. I was hoping we'd have a shot at playing Iran earlier but it looks like we'd both have to advance to the Semifinals for that to happen.